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W.H. Oliver
William Hosking '"'Bill"' Oliver' CBE (14 May 1925 – 16 September 2015) was a New Zealand poet and historian, who edited the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Life Oliver was born in Feilding in 1925 to Ethel Amelia Oliver and her husband, William Henry Oliver, both Cornish immigrants. His father was a member of the New Zealand Labour Party, and stood in the Oroua}}\\ electorate in the 1935 election., and the electorate in the 1943 election. During his youth, the family moved to Dannevirke, where he received his schooling at Dannevirke High School. He studied at Victoria University of Wellington, where he earned an M.A., followed by three years of lecturing at that institution. He married Dorothy Nielsen, whom he had met at a Christian conference in Christchurch, and had 5 sons and a daughter with her. In 1951, the Olivers moved to the United Kingdom, where he earned a Ph.D. at the University of Oxford in 1953. They returned to New Zealand and he lectured at University of Canterbury and Victoria, before in 1965 becoming inaugural professor of history at Massey University, where he later served as Dean of Humanities. He wrote extensively on New Zealand history and published several volumes of poetry. He was made emeritus professor on leaving Massey in 1983 to become general editor of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB). His wife died of pancreatic cancer during the time that he worked on the DNZB. Oliver died in Wellington on 16 September 2015. Recognition In the 1990 New Year Honours Oliver was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. He received a D. Litt (Hon) from Victoria University of Wellington in recognition of his services to history. On 9 September 2008 he was honoured in the Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement, for non-fiction. Publications Poetry *''Fire Without Phoenix: Poems, 1946-1954'' Christchurch, NZ: Caxton Press, 1957. *''Out of Season: Poems. Wellington & New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. *Poor Richard: Poems. Wellington: Port Nicholson Press, 1982. *Bodily Presence: Words / Paintings'' (paintings by Anne Munz). Wellington: BlackBerry Press, 1993. *''Poems, 1946-2005''. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2005. Non-fiction *''The Story of New Zealand''. London: Faber, 1960. *''Prophets and Millennialists: The uses of biblical prophecy in England from the 1790s to the 1840s''. Auckland: Auckland University Press / Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1978. *''James K. Baxter: A portrait''. Eastbourne, NZ: Port Nicholson Press, 1983. *''Claims to the Waitangi Tribunal''. Wellington: Waitangi Tribunal Division, Dept. of Justice, 1991. *''Looking for the Phoenix: A memoir''. Wellington: Bridget Williams, 2002. Edited *''The Oxford History of New Zealand'' (edited with B.R. Williams). Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press / Wellington & New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. *''A People's History: Illustrated biographies from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, volume one, 1769-1869''. Wellington: Bridget Williams, 1992. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:W.H. Oliver, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Centre Inc. Web, Apr. 6, 2014. See also *List of New Zealand poets References External links ;Poems *The Phoenix Project - collected poetic works ;Books *W.H. Oliver at Amazon.com *W.H. Oliver at the New Zealand Literature File ;About *W.H. Oliver at Bridget Williams Books Category:1925 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Massey University faculty Category:New Zealand historians Category:New Zealand poets Category:University of Canterbury faculty Category:Victoria University of Wellington faculty Category:People from the Manawatu-Wanganui Region Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:New Zealand academics Category:Poets